I love to cook and teach vegan cooking. In March 2006, I was inspired by cooking blogs like Vegan Lunchbox to post my dinner plate pictures.
I do my family's cooking. Since I met my wife in June 2004, I'm proud that I've not repeated a dinner for her; we weren't together every night, but since fall 2005, we've shared most dinners. I think I can keep up the unique creations through spring 2006 - maybe beyond! (Still going in March'08!)

Friday, August 19, 2016

Peachy Broccolini with Tempeh (No Added Fat)

I picked up some organic peaches today; they're in a brown bag ripening. I had the idea of cooking with a peach, and thought it might go along well with some broccolini that I also picked up.

Medium broccolini (or small broccoli) stalk, stalk cut into 1/2" lengths (about a cup) and remaining florets cut down in length by half (about three cups)

Clove of garlic, finely (1/8") diced

Vegan bouillon cube

1/8 cup water

1/4 t salt

(optional) 1/2 t jerk seasoning

4 ounces tempeh cut into 1/2" cubes

1 cup onion cut into approx. 1 1/2" x 1/4" half moons

Process

I put all the ingredients except the salt, jerk seasoning, tempeh, and onion into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked for "zero" minutes - i.e., the machine came up to pressure then turned off.

In the meantime, I sauteed in a cast iron pan with no added oil the tempeh and onion. I also made quinoa (1 part quinoa to 2 parts water and a vegan bouillon cube simmered for 2 minutes then left off heat, covered, for about 10 minutes).

When the Instant Pot was done, I waited a few minutes, carefully opened it, and mixed in the salt.

My daughter doesn't like tempeh, so I served her the broccolini with cubes of tofu, but, for my wife and me, mixed in the tempeh and onion, along with jerk seasoning.

Results

Dinner was good; my wife particularly liked it. The peach flavor was subtle but the peach added nice moisture and a hint of fruitiness.

Ideas for the future

I should experiment with pressure cooking fruits like peach or mango. The combination with spicy flavors seems to work well, and the fruit moderates the heat of spices.